“I really want to go at this for a second,” Obama said to applause. “That really sells the American people short. I meet a lot of people as president of the United States and as a candidate for president of the United States. … I meet a lot of people. And I can’t, I can’t name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job.”

Flanked by 18 people the White House said either lost their unemployment benefits when the federal program expired after Christmas or have benefited from the program in the past, Obama thanked the Senate which, with the help of six Republicans, voted Tuesday morning to allow debate to proceed on the bill.

“Voting for unemployment insurance helps people and creates jobs,” he said. “Voting against it does not.”

For weeks Obama and the White House blamed Republicans for the expiration of long-term unemployment benefits, but the strategy appeared in jeopardy before six GOP senators voted to begin debate on a three-month extension. GOP lawmakers have demanded the $6.5 billion benefit be paid for.

Roadblocks still remain. The bill must get 60 votes again in the Senate to end debate, which is no guarantee. Last year for instance, the Senate began debate on legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases before failing to reach 60 votes to end debate.

Obama said Congress has an obligation both to help struggling Americans. Doing so would also keep the nation’s fragile economy afloat, he said.

Obama spent part of Monday phoning Republican senators to try to get 60 votes for cloture on the Senate’s three-month extension of unemployment benefits. On Tuesday six GOP senators voted to allow debate: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Dan Coats of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and the bill’s co-sponsor, Dean Heller of Nevada.

More than 1.3 million people lost unemployment benefits Dec. 28, the White House said, and more than 70,000 will be tossed off the federal benefit roll each week if the program is not extended.

Should the bill pass the Senate, it faces tough opposition in the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he will not consider the unemployment benefit extension if it is not paid for.

Boehner reiterated Tuesday that House GOP leadership requires any unemployment extension to be paid for.

“One month ago I personally told the White House that another extension of temporary emergency unemployment benefits should not only be paid for but include something to help put people back to work,” Boehner said in a statement released by his office. “To date, the president has offered no such plan. If he does, I’ll be happy to discuss it, but right now the House is going to remain focused on growing the economy and giving America’s unemployed the independence that only comes from finding a good job.”

Democrats and the White House have argued paying for the benefit extension is unnecessary because the money will be immediately pumped back into the economy. Under President George W. Bush, chief White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said Monday, emergency unemployment benefits were extended five times without pay-fors.

If Congress does not extend unemployment benefits, the White House has said, it would cost American economy 240,000 jobs in 2014 alone.

Obama’s remarks serve as the high point of what the White House and its progressive allies have said will be a week of applying pressure to Republicans to extend unemployment benefits. Obama’s political arm, Organizing for Action, announced events across the country Tuesday and other labor groups are mounting campaigns to call Congress.

It also kicks off a season of Democrats’ efforts to refocus the nation’s political debate on economic inequality and away from the troubled rollout of Obama’s health care law. Obama is planning a push to increase the federal minimum wage, which also faces stiff opposition from congressional Republicans despite polling well.

Obama even drew a parallel between the boost people receiving unemployment benefits receive and the lackluster expectations for his agenda on Capitol Hill.

“Hope is contagious,” he said. “When Congress passes a bipartisan effort starting here, right at the beginning of the new year, who knows, we might actually get some things done this year.”